January is winter in Northern Vietnam, rainy season in the Central Coast, dry season in the Central Highlands and South of Vietnam.
Northern Vietnam may experience the coldest temperatures in the second half of December and the first half of January. It starts getting more of spring weather pattern in the North at the end of January.
It may still rain hard in the Central Coast in the first half of January. The rain starts to get lighter in the second half and the skies start getting more cheery from the end of January when it is going to be the dry season.
The Central Highlands and South of Vietnam have lovely weather in January with sunny days, and pleasant temperatures.
January is a good time for adventure tours, nature tours, bird watching tours in the North, in the Central Highlands and South of Vietnam. It is dry and often with pleasant temperatures in these regions. For those on birding tours, this is a great time for sighting winter birds and migrant birds in Vietnam.
Below you can find more details about the weather in Vietnam in January 2023.
First week of January, 2023
There was a weak spell of the Winter Monsoon hitting Northern Vietnam on the second day of the New Year. The wind started having effects in the other regions in the country a day later.
The North had lovely sunny day on the first day of the New Year with lovely sunshine. Then the skies started getting overcast as the new spell of cold wind arrived, there was some light rain in the far northern mountains.
The Central Coast still had rain in the first week of January 2023. The Central Highlands and South of Vietnam had some rain, some clouds, some sunshine and lovely temperatures.
Irregular short-lived rain for 5-10 minutes each was found almost daily in the Mekong Delta helping to keep temperatures in the region to unusual low temperatures (21-28oC)
Due to strong winds and rough sea that speedboat trips have been canceled between Rach Gia – Phu Quoc and Ha Tien – Phu Quoc in the last few days of the first week of January 2023.
Rain measured within 24 hours in the Central Coast:
- Quang Tri: Vinh Kim-99mm;
- Phu Yen: Song Hinh-107mm, Duc Binh-93mm;
- Khanh Hoa: Dien Dien-95mm, Van Phuoc-85mm.
The weather and temperatures were
- The North: dry mostly, 12-19oC in the mountains, 15-20oC in the lowlands;
- North of the Central Coast: rain, clouds, 15-19oC;
- The Central Coast to the North of Hai Van Pass: rain, 18-21oC;
- The Central Coast to the North of Hai Van Pass: rain, 19-24oC;
- The Central Coast from Quy Nhon to Nha Trang: light rain, 22-27oC;
- The Central Coast from Phan Rang-Thap Cham to Phan Thiet: clouds, some light rain, 23-30oC;
- The Central Highlands: sun, clouds, 18-27oC;
- Southern Vietnam: sun, some light rain, 22-32oC, 1-2oC lower in the Mekong Delta.
Second week of January, 2023
The second week of January 2023 started with dry and pleasant temperatures in most of northern Vietnam, rain in all of the Central Coast, irregular rain, chilly and pleasant temperatures in South Vietnam.
The temperatures were
- Northern Vietnam : dry mostly with some sun and some overcast skies, 13-25oC in the mountains, 18-23oC ;
- North of the Central Coast : some rain, some clouds, 18-22oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : rain, 19-22oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van : rain, 20-24oC ;
- South Central Coast : some rain, some clouds, 22-25oC, 23-28oC in Phan Thiet;
- Central Highlands : some rain, mostly clouds, 18-24oC ;
- Southern Vietnam : some rain, clouds, sun, 23-28oC mostly, 23-31oC in Ho Chi Minh City.
In mid second week, the North of Vietnam had some drizzle for a couple of days making the air moist. The Central Coast started having some nice days with clouds alternated by rain. The Central Highlands enjoyed great weather. The South of Vietnam had daily irregular rain still.
Third week of January, 2023
There was a strong spell of the Northeasterly Monsoon hitting Vietnam in the third week of January 2023 making the temperatures drop in the North and rain in the Central Coast, rought sea from the North to the South.
The Central Highlands and South of Vietnam continued to enjoy great sunny days with pleasant temperatures.
The temperatures were
- Northern Vietnam : dry mostly with overcast skies, 7-16oC in the mountains, 10-17oC in the lowland;
- North of the Central Coast : some rain, some clouds, 12-17oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : rain, 14-19oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van : rain, 19-23oC ;
- South Central Coast : some rain, some clouds, 21-26oC, 22-31oC in Phan Thiet;
- Central Highlands : sun, 14-26oC ;
- Southern Vietnam : some rain, clouds, sun, 22-30oC mostly, 23-33oC in Ho Chi Minh City.
Fourth week and last days of January, 2023
There was a strong spell of cold wind hitting northern Vietnam on 24-January-2023. The North had strong winds for one day when the cold wind arrived and remained to have lovely dry and sunny weather after. The Central Coast had rain mostly. The new spell of cold wind caused brief strong winds and heavy rain in parts of Southern Vietnam which is very unusual.
The regional weather was as follows:
- Northeast : cold, sunny, 6-19oC ;
- Northwest : sunny, 8-19oC ;
- Lowlands in Northern Vietnam : sunny, 9-20oC ;
- North of the Central Coast : clouds, 16-19oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : mostly rain, come clouds 16-19oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van : rain, 18-22oC ;
- South Central Coast : mostly rain, some clouds, 20-26oC, clouds and 22-29oC in Phan Thiet;
- Central Highlands : sun, 13-25oC ;
- Southern Vietnam : some rain, mostly clouds, sun, 22-29oC mostly, 22-31oC in Ho Chi Minh City.
